My Experience

My Experience in Cayambe, Ecuador

Andrea O Adegoke

I had the opportunity to serve as a pharmacy student through the Santiago Partnership at Cayambe, Ecuador. I spent some time at the clinic, at the school for the disabled, and participating in caravans and home visits as well. I went with a team of occupational therapists by which I was able to learn a little bit about their profession and what they do. I was amazed to see how much OT are involved in helping people live as much of a normal life as possible. One of the two things memorable experiences was participating in home visits and having a session in the clinic on Wednesday with Cessi.

Every Wednesday night the clinic invites the elderly in the neighborhood to come eat and play games together. A lot of the elderly in the neighborhood live by themselves and tend to be isolated, so these sessions simply serves to give them a sense of community and belonging. Since I and an OT student was there that Wednesday, the patients took the opportunity to ask about the health problems they had and any recommendations that we could give them. A lot of them had back problems or pain upon their ankles and hands. Otherwise they were pretty healthy. Together, I and the OT student were able to give  non-pharmacologic and practical recommendations along with over the counter treatments to supplement. They were very thankful for our advice and recommendations. Lastly, we had the opportunity to play fun games with them like cat and mouse and molding play-doh. I had fun interacting with them and at the end we prayed together for their wellbeing and that God would heal any pain they may have. Although this was not a completely pharmacy related experience, it was a refreshing moment for me to connect with them through games and prayer.

Another opportunity that I thoroughly enjoyed was participating in home visits. It was such an eye-opening experience as I saw the people living in certain conditions and suffering from diseases and infections for a long time which progressed to something much worse. I also encountered people who had health issues that honestly could be easily resolved if they had the proper access to health care. It really made sad to see this and I realized that all the knowledge that is attained means nothing if it is not able to be utilized. This experience pushed me more towards doing missions so that the knowledge that I am obtaining from school will be used to actually make a difference. I also realized that we may not be able to make changes in one week, or 4 weeks, or even in a month. However, if we sow small seed of love and compassion, surely one day it will add up to make a difference.